Foodbank Redesign : Powering Community with Purpose🤝

My role : Lead UX/UI Designer responsible for user research, interface design, and prototyping.

Industry : Non profit , charity

Toolkit : Figma, Illustrator and photoshop

Timeline : Q1 2025

Project Scope : This project focused on designing a responsive dashboard for Dartford Foodbank to improve the management of volunteers, donations, and events.

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Key Insights Uncovered

Tackling Inefficiencies in Volunteer and Donation Management

“It’s frustrating when I can’t find all the donor details in one place. We need a system where everything’s accessible without jumping between tabs and systems.”

Jane (Foodbank Staff)

Dartford Foodbank faced significant challenges in managing volunteer schedules, tracking donations, and coordinating events. The existing system was fragmented, leading to delays, missed donations, and manual data entry, which frustrated both staff and volunteers.

Key Insights Uncovered

👥 Volunteer Coordination Issues:

  • Manual Data Entry: Volunteers and staff were spending excessive time inputting and updating volunteer details manually, leading to errors and inefficiencies.
    Source: User Interviews (Rachel & David) and Affinity Mapping.

💸 Donation Management Challenges:

  • Tracking and Engagement: There was a lack of tools to track and engage with donors efficiently, resulting in missed opportunities for further donations or recurring contributions.
    Source: User Interviews (Michel) and Affinity Mapping.

📅 Event Management Frustrations:

  • Event Assignments: Assigning volunteers to events was a time-consuming task, and the system lacked an easy way to view and manage upcoming events.
    Source: User Interviews (Jane & Rachel) and Affinity Mapping.

📊 Competitive Insights:

  • Opportunities for Improvement: Competitors showed gaps in donor retention, volunteer management, and technology adoption, indicating areas where Dartford Foodbank could improve and stand out.
    Source: Competitive Analysis (Competitive Gaps & Opportunities).

From Ideas to Interface: Crafting the Perfect User Experience

Name: Rachel
Age: 35
Occupation: Foodbank Coordinator
Location: Manchester, UK
Tech Savvy: Intermediate (comfortable with basic software tools)

"The current system is a headache, especially when I have to manage last-minute changes to volunteer shifts. We need a more intuitive solution."

Goal : Streamline volunteer scheduling and assignment.

Minimize errors and data entry time.

Needs : A clear, centralized system to manage volunteer availability and schedules.

Real-time updates on donation status and volunteer participation.

Frustrations : Manual data entry is time-consuming and error-prone.

Finding volunteer availability is a hassle, especially for last-minute changes.

The Flows that shaped the design

Tailored Features: Solving Real Problems with Simple Solutions

1. Dashboard: Real-Time Insights at a Glance

A comprehensive dashboard that displays key metrics like total donations, revenue, and volunteer sign-ups. The visual graphs and stats help track foodbank performance and identify trends for better decision-making.

2. Volunteer Management: Organized and Efficient

Keep track of all volunteers in a centralized list, with color-coded statuses for easy identification of active, inactive, and duplicate volunteers. This feature helps reduce confusion and simplifies volunteer management.

3. Event Management: Streamlining Volunteer Coordination

Keep track of all volunteers in a centralized list, with color-coded statuses for easy identification of active, inactive, and duplicate volunteers. This feature helps reduce confusion and simplifies volunteer management.

What I learned & Next steps

Throughout this project, I learned the importance of user research and iterative design in creating solutions that truly resonate with the target audience. If I were to approach this project again, I would invest more time in usability testing to refine the user experience further and explore more advanced accessibility features to ensure inclusivity.